Savage Harvest: A Tale of Cannibals, Colonialism, and Michael Rockefeller's Tragic Quest for Primitive Art

Carl Hoffman does a commendable job of first party research in an attempt to uncover the truth around the disappearance and death of Michael Rockefeller in 1961 off New Guinea. Rockefeller, grandson of John D. and son of then NY Governor Nelson Rockefeller, was exploring the native Asmat tribe and their "primitive" art in New Guinea. While traveling on a catamaran with a Dutch colleague and two native guides, the boat capsized in rough water 10-15 miles from shore. The two guides bailed and while his Dutch colleague remained on a piece of flotsam, Michael emptied two gas cans to use as flotation devices and swam off in the warm waters of the Arafura Sea to shore. An intense search ensued with the Dutch colonial authorities, Australia and the US. Ultimately the official cause of death was ruled a drowning but questions always persisted. New Guinea had some of the most remote territory in the world, many native tribes had minimal to no contact with anything modern and some tribes practiced "headhunting" or in other words were cannibals. Did Michael really drown? Was he eaten by a shark? or did he wind eaten by a native tribe? Hoffman's research uncovered many primary sources never seen or reviewed by the Rockefeller family, spent significant time with local tribes and conversed with Dutch missionaries who were present when Michael disappeared. While nothing is certain and there is no "smoking gun", the preponderance of the evidence he uncovers leads one to conclude that Michael did make it to shore only to be killed and eaten by a native tribe. Hoffman delves into ancient animosities and strife among native tribes, clashes of local tribes with Dutch administrators and missionaries and the convergence of western culture and religion with native spiritual and animistic beliefs. All in all, Hoffman's persistence and willingness to immerse himself on the trail, wherever it would lead, provides sufficient conclusive to this story, not to mention and entertaining read. I read Hoffman's previous book, "Lunatic Express", and it is clear he has the personal fortitude to go to the ends of the earth in some physically and mentally tough environments, whether for excitement, a good story or both. "Savage Harvest" is a great follow up book, a bit more focused, albeit a little less entertaining than "Lunatic Express". The toil he put in to research this story is quite commendable and makes me appreciate the efforts of his labor even more.

The author excelled at providing readers with an in-depth and comprehensive analysis of Rockefeller's life, interest in art, travels in Asmat, and his final moments. However, I felt the author could have done a better job of analyzing Asmat culture and how it ultimately played into the life and death of Michael Rockefeller. If I could re-title this book it would simply be, "Michael Rockefeller's Tragic Quest for Primitive Art", as I felt this was the strongest focus while there were several inter spliced stories within this book of which the author touched on but never really spent time and energy analyzing in-depth. Overall, four stars, as the book is entertaining, informative, and reflects the author's comprehensive research of Rockefeller's disappearance. What I did enjoy about this book is that it interwove several themes and cultures into one story. Cannibalism, colonialism, and the Rockefeller family's quest for greatness all play into Michael Rockefeller's disappearance. The author also effectively described how drastically Asmat culture had changed in the 50 years since Michael's disappearance, and also how it had not changed. The ways in which it had not changed were the most fascinating for me. I thought the author also did a great job of describing Asmat culture in a fair and objective way without the "white man's burden" nor a blind belief in cultural relativism clouding the descriptions. The author deftly described Dutch/European colonial culture, Asmat in the 1960s, Asmat in the 2000s, the Rockefeller dynasty, and how each of these cultures clashed through Michael's travels and disappearance. I appreciated how the author included extensive personal interviews with people involved in Michael's travels and with the Asmat. The author made a clear and convincing case, backed up with evidence, pointing to the reason's and causes behind Michael's demise. However, this "tale" was perhaps too broad and touched on quite a lot of themes, but treats each theme and historical event as a single event in a cause and effect sequence. I would have liked the book more if the author stuck with one (or perhaps two ) theme - Asmat culture, cannibalism, colonialism, bringing religion to the Asmat, Globalization comes to Asmat, Indonesia's control of Asmat etc. and described that theme and how it contributed to Michael's demise. I think the strongest case for this would be how the author describes the Asmat's infatuation with balance. Or, on a related note, how the Asmat live in extremes. Why are they this way? The author spent quite a lot of real estate discussing cannibalism, but never brings in his own or academia's reasoning for the practice. I felt like the author would begin to go into a deeper analysis - but then would stop, change direction, and move onto another theme. Overall, four stars, an entertaining, informative, and well researched book. It convincingly traces the life, travels, and disappearance of Michael Rockefeller, but it could have been focused better around a deeper analysis or explanation of Asmat culture.

It's an easy read, full of interesting background history of rich and famous New Yorkers, and how they build their empires with siblings exploring the world. Very good book!

Great communication from the seller. I received the item when I was told I would, and it was as described. I would highly recommend this seller and would buy from this seller again.

Interesting reading, very detailed

I did not know much about Michael Rockefeller before reading the book. The story is really interesting: everything is triggered from Michael's passion for primitive art. But then expand the content towards the anthropology, the colonialism and the detective work to search for truth behind the death of Michael Rockefeller. Very well documented, it offers a great description of a world and a culture that seems far centuries ago. But everything happened in the sixties (though most of the research has been done in New Guinea by the author in 2012) Can't put it down until the end!

It was late at night when an Asmat man came to our shelter. He carried a sack and proudly opened it to show us his greatest treasure; a human enemy skull which he claimed to have inherited it from his father. It was in 1996, exactly 15 years to the day since Michael Rockefeller disappeared in the same area which added to the creepy atmosphere. Michael was in the Asmat region to collect wood carvings for the Museum of Primitive Art, which his father, Nelson Rockefeller had opened in New York. The Asmat art work is symbolic of warfare, headhunting and ancestor worship, producing superbly designed shields, canoes, and sculpted figures. The former head hunters and cannibals lived in constant fear of spirits and ghosts were known to have slept with human skulls for pillows to protect them from evil spirits. It was widely believed that Michael drowned during a 6.5 to 10 mile swim. The boat he was on was swept out from a river to open sea and capsized. It was also noted that the Asmat had never killed a white man, although they waged frequent wars between villages, and those killed in battle were beheaded and cannibalized. A huge search found no trace of him and it seemed the mystery would never be solved. The conclusion was death by drowning. Carl Hoffman is an award winning travel journalist. He has travelled on assignment to more than 70 countries for National Geographic, Smithsonian, Outside and many other magazines. This is a terrific book. Hoffman visited the Asmat several times in 2012, learned the Indonesian language in order to communicate. He examined hundreds of pages of documents, letters, telegrams and photos from the time around Michael's disappearance, many of which were not known to exist, especially after so many years. Remarkably he was able to interview a priest and a patrol officer who were still alive 50 years after the event. He also befriended and lived with a sullen tribesman who remembered what led up to the disappearance. Hoffman includes pages of footnotes and bibliography. What his research reveals is a massive coverup by the Dutch government, and the Catholic Church. The Asmat kept secrets, fearing the wrath of their gods, the Christian church and the police and military. Hoffman's description of the region is extremely well done and vividly written.. He describes the difficulty in getting there and how hard it is to journey between settlements. There are no roads, motorized vehicles or even bicycles because the area is so muddy and swampy. This is the largest alluvial swamp in the world. When he met the man who was supposed to be his first guide and asked how many tourists go there, he replied 'Many'......'Maybe 4'. Hoffman describes tramping through deep mud, and in villages it was necessary to use wooden walkways above the marsh, sometimes with broken or missing planks.Paths were often a slippery log placed over the mud. I think it is indisputable that the 50 year old mystery has finally been solved, and people involved in the event named. A remarkable piece of journalism, involving travel to a remote region and little known tribal people, exhausting research, history and the solution to a mystery. Very readable.